We never thought we would say that !
Yes we sort of miss motorway service stations. For our Canadain reader(s) they are located every 30-50 miles on motorways (main highways) and are places you can stop to get gas (petrol) and fast food (more gas). There are also small shopping malls and restrooms (toilets). They were the butt of many jokes about expensive products, stale food and surly staff, but they meant that people on long journeys could get to the essentials without leaving the motorway.
Here in Canada they are not very common and instead you have to break the journey by driving to the nearest town. Always hoping you can spot a gas station that won’t mind you using the loo (washroom) and then find your way back onto the highway. Not always as easy as it may sound.
We harvested the rest of our potatoes this weekend. Not exactly a bumper crop, and several were damaged by the fork but we did grow our own, and Lin is making cottage pie for dinner tonight. We also grew peas, lettuce, a few radishes, spring onions and a few larger onions for pickling. The veg we tried to grow in pots on the deck were a complete failure. I guess the bags of top soil we bought were not as fertile as the grow bags we are used to.
The news from home about our bungalow is depressing. The non paying tenant has theoretically been evicted, but left furniture and lot of mess behind. The Estate Agent says it is all fixable and the costs of doing so will be recovered from the tenant. It seems that after a year of rental we have a house that is now worth less than it was a year ago and we still can’t sell it.
This has been the September long weekend and many families went away for the last time in their RVs and 5th wheels (= caravans). This produced an unusual bank holiday traffic jam in Blackfalds. The caravans were queuing up to empty their septic tanks at the disposal point . Apparently it is the only one for some miles around, so is very popular in the camping season.
Watching a video the other day it dropped out of pause and we saw on the screen British cars in a british street. Suddenly we realised it was Coronation Street what a shock. Pete reckons the last time he saw that show it was in black and white and the Rovers return was full of characters like Ena Sharples, Alf Tatlock, Annie Walker, Len Fairclough and Minnie Caldwell. You will have to look up Wikepedia to work out when that was.
In a further attempt to explain British humour to his work colleagues Pete found the Two Ronnies sketch “Fork Handles” on Utube and circulated it. Most said they enjoyed it but had not been born when it was first performed in 1976. Funny it didn’t seem that long ago, and Lin says I sound more like my parents everytime I say it, and they are 85 years old !! Is she trying to tell me something ?